Perhaps the most famous Cincinnati radio station
actually only existed on television, which was the CBS sitcom series WKRP in
Cincinnati from 1978 to 1982. Otherwise, the most successful station in
reality has been WLW (700), which is among the oldest call letters in the
market. It began in the early twenties and was first owned by Crosley
Manufacturing Company. It has been the highest Arbitron rated Cincinnati station
in the nineties and 2000s.

Other call letters from the early twenties
included Ohio Mechanics Institute's WAAD, Cino Radio Manufacturing Company's WIZ
and Precision Equipment Company's WMH. After many changes the first few decades
of radio, the AM dial reached stability for awhile in the early forties: WKRC
(550), WLW (700), WCPO (1230), WSAI (1360) and WCKY (1530). FM stations started
to gain listenership in the late sixties and became a major factor in the
ratings by the late seventies.

WSAI-AM (1320) was a popular hit music
station at the dawn of Beatlemania in the sixties. Morning host Dusty Rhodes of
the "Good Guys" was influential in arranging the Beatles concert at Cincinnati
Gardens in 1964. Rhodes went on to shows for oldies stations WKRC-AM, WLW-AM and
WGRR-FM. In 2006 Rhodes and radio executive Brian Kauffmann began leasing time
on WBOB-AM (1160) to play rock oldies.

By the end of the eighties the
top music station in the market was still on AM, which was WLW (700), playing
adult contemporary music under Jacor. The station held on to the market crown
when it added talk, becoming full service in 1993 and then eventually news/talk.
The top FM stations of the late eighties were contemporary hits leader WKRQ
(101.9), owned by Great American Broadcasting and rocker WEBN (102.7), owned by
Jacor. Other FMs that did well in the ratings included beautiful music station
WWEZ (92.5), owned by Federated Media, adult contemporary WWNK (94.1), owned by
Booth American and classic rocker WOFX (94.9), owned by Hoker.

The
Telecom Act of 1996 changed the face of radio, as many independent and small
stations were bought out by a handful of big companies, as ownership rules were
loosened. Jacor was the first big company to have five stations in the market.
Those stations were WLW (700), WEBN (102.7), WOFX (92.5), WKRC (550) and WWNK
(94.1). In 1997 Chancellor only had a few stations in the market, which were
country stations WUBE (105.1) and WYGY (96.5). Susquehanna owned WRRM (98.5) and
smooth jazz WVAE (94.4) while American Radio Systems owned top 40 station WKRQ
(101.9) and oldies WGRR (103.5).

By the late nineties only a handful of
stations were left in the market owned by small companies including urban
station WIZF (100.9), owned by Blue Chip, nostalgia/big band WSAI (1530), which
was formerly WCKY, independent alternative station WAQZ (107.1) and religious
station WAKW (93.3), owned by Pillar of Fire. By the turn of the century WAQZ
had been acquired by Infinity, who also went on to own WUBE, WGRR and WKRQ.
Infinity changed its name back to CBS Radio in 2006. In the mid 2000s Clear
Channel owns nearly a dozen signals that are heard in Cincinnati. Those stations
are WLW, WEBN, WKFS, WKRC, WOFX, WVMX, WSAI, WCKY, WMMX, WTUE and WLQT.